Fabrics and technologies

PROTECTION

Outdoors, the sun doesn’t always shine. That’s the obvious reason why we develop materials and technologies to protect you from the elements, whatever the conditions. Protecting yourself is the guarantee of a great time out in the wilderness.

GORE-TEX ACTIVE®

GORE-TEX® ACTIVE fabrics are extremely breathable fabrics with membrane, offering the best compromise for intense activities that require protective, lightweight and breathable garments. The Gore-Tex® membrane is an undeniable guarantee of staying durably dry in all weather, whatever your activity level.

DURABLE WATER REPELLENT (DWR)

All DEFENDER® materials developed by Eider are water repellent, meaning that raindrops will run off your garment. This property is essential to stop water permeating the fabric. Durable water repellent (DWR) finishes thus deliver increased resistance to bad weather and soiling.

UPF: anti-UV protection

Anti-UV protection is an important feature of our DRYCORE® products: the level of protection can be designated by a UPF rating (like your suncream):

UPF 15: good protection (blocks at least 93% of ultra-violet rays)

UPF 30: very good protection (blocks at least 96% of ultra-violet rays)

The level of protection depends on various material-related parameters (darkness of color, thickness, weight, type of fibers, etc.)

DEFENDER® technology

A product of Eider research, DEFENDER® is a microporous membrane bonded to a garment’s shell – thus making it completely waterproof, windproof and breathable. For more than 20 years, we have been striving to evolve this technology to incorporate material innovations and consumer preferences to craft garments that are lighter, more breathable, more supple, or with a soft feel…

Available in two- and three-layer versions, our range of high-performance DEFENDER® materials meet the specific requirements of all outdoor activities.

WINDSTOPPER®

Garments built from GORE® WINDSTOPPER® products are totally windproof, but breathable too. They keep you comfortable in cool and windy weather. The Gore® membrane blocks wind while letting sweat vapor escape.

In the GORE® WINDSTOPPER® range, we have selected materials with superior elasticity and low weight to guarantee you sufficient next-to-skin comfort. These products are functional, comfortable, and pleasant to wear. And they’re versatile and dynamic – just like you.

WARMTH

We are named after a duck that’s famous for the quality of its down, and which lives in the world’s most hostile region: the Article Circle.

Protection against the cold is part of our DNA. We are constantly exploring new solutions to maintain an optimum level of warmth.

Your need for warmth may vary greatly, depending on whether you are static or active. Our wide range of insulations will help you find the ideal product for your activities – whether in summer and winter, in the Arctic or Africa.

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PrimaLoft® insulation®

Often described as the alternative to down, PrimaLoft® insulation significantly boosts the performance of cold-weather garments. PrimaLoft® insulations are light, air permeable, and easily compressible. They help you stay comfortably warm, even in the harshest weather conditions. Garments featuring PrimaLoft® technology are perfect for skiing/snowboarding, ski touring, trekking, cold-weather walking, and even for everyday use.

E-LOFT®

Developed by Eider, E-LOFT is a destructured polyester fill whose fibers are sufficiently far apart to trap the maximum amount of air, and thus provide the warmth you need to enjoy winter sports activities. The long fibers are positioned to make the insulation supple and breathable.

E-LOFT® DOWN

E-LOFT Down is the best compromise for wet-weather insulation. It combines the warmth of down and the hydrophobic properties of E-loft fibers. When blended with synthetic fibers, down is enhanced by the benefits of polyester fill, making the blend a thermoregulator that’s especially well suited to intensive activities. There’s no risk of finding yourself uninsulated: the fill always keeps its loft, even when wet. So in wet weather, your garments will always perform well on warmth.

Down

Down is undeniably the material with the highest insulating power. No synthetic material can equal its warmth-to-weight (lightness) ratio. Here at Eider, we have chosen the RDS standard, which guarantees the traceability of most of our down insulations

COMFORT

We need to know that you feel good in your apparel. This essential objective informs each Eider product development process. But come to think of it, what does comfort mean? Freedom of movement? Feeling dry even during intense exertion? A bit of both, actually. A combination of parameters – such as the fabric, what it’s made of, garment fit, and breathability – come into play.

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Stretch

Stretch is a key factor in comfort. A fabric can be stretch courtesy of its weave (in which case we talk about “mechanical stretch”) or its composition, with the use of elastane fibers. A fabric can stretch two ways (horizontally) or four ways (horizontally and vertically). Such fabrics deliver maximum comfort to sports garments, and enable very close fits. Freedom of movement is guaranteed!

Ergonomic hood

In a protective jacket, the hood is a particularly sensitive area: protecting the wearer properly while maintaining visual appeal and comfort of wear – all in extreme weather conditions – is a real challenge. Our hoods are built with an optimized visor shape for protection from the rain; two- or three-point tightening depending on the discipline; and single-hand tightening for greater efficiency. The rear tightening system increases side visibility and stops the wind from blowing in. The hood can be zip-off or integral, depending on the product’s degree of versatility.

Adjustable waistband

On a pair of pants, an adjustable waistband is non-negotiable for comfort: this feature adapts to various types of body shape, and ensures good support on the move.

We pay great importance to the build of our waistbands: raised back with a soft warm material for ski pants; side adjusters with elastic and velcro for easier fitting; and press studs plus hook for the closure, in order to withstand stresses.

DRYCORE®

Engineered by Eider R&D, DRYCORE® fabrics are built to absorb sweat from the inside and spread it over the outer surface for rapid removal. DRYCORE® fabrics come in a wide range of weights, depending on the product. They are crease resistant and easy care. Some also have an anti-UV finish.

RESPONSIBILITY PLEDGE

What really matters to us is that you feel good in your apparel and at one with nature. But for this this alchemy to work, your playground must be kept unspoilt. And we’re all responsible for that. We are named after a duck that’s an endangered species, so committing to help save it made perfect sense.

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Bluesign®

Eider prefers materials that are Bluesign® certified. Bluesign® is an independent label based on a standard with five areas of appraisal:

Resource productivity.

Consumer safety.

Air emissions.

Water pollution.

Occupational health and safety.

Companies with the Bluesign® label are fully transparent throughout their production supply chain. They cut no corners on functionality, quality, or design. This label is Eider’s guarantee of a responsible, committed partner.

OEKO-TEX®

Most Eider fabrics are approved by OEKO-TEX®. The OEKO-TEX® Standard 1000 is a testing, audit and certification system for eco-friendly facilities producing textiles and apparel. Based on criteria updated annually, the standard allows objective evaluation of environmental balance and social acceptability across all the company’s production facilities. Through it, OEKO-TEX® aims to continually improve environmental performance and working conditions.

RDS CERTIFIED DOWN

In addition to our pledge on supporting nature, and especially eider ducks, we have chosen the RDS standard for many of our down insulations.

RDS is a standard devised by nonprofit Textile Exchange, which covers the entire apparel supply chain. It ensures full traceability throughout the production process and guarantees the welfare of ducks, i.e. they are neither live-plucked nor force-fed. The RDS logo is awarded only to products that contain 100% certified down.

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PFC FREE WATER REPELLENCY

In autumn-winter 2014, Eider decided to switch all its water-repellent fabrics from C8 to C6 finishes (which have shorter carbon chains) in order to substantially reduce the impact of perfluorinated toxins on the environment.

But we have a bigger ambition: we are working on a new and even eco-friendlier solution that will let us eliminate all perfluorinated compounds from our water-repellent fabrics. That’s why, starting in summer 2017, we are introducing water-repellent and waterproof fabrics with no perfluorinated compounds (PFC FREE DWR).

We are undertaking a more eco-friendly process to develop materials, while maintaining the expected level of quality, and with the target of eliminating all PFCs by 2020.

Low Impact Label

As part of our eco-design program, we have adopted the LOW IMPACT label, a unique standard based on two essential criteria:

We consider that all the other parameters of a product’s life cycle (factories, transport, packaging, use, end of life) are an essential foundation for our corporate responsibility. This foundation is continually monitored, improved and optimized.

The calculation criteria? At least 40% of product weight must be low-impact materials

Save your logo

Biodiversity encompasses all living beings, and involves the interactions and interdependencies between species. The result of several billions years of evolution, biodiversity performs functions that are essential for all forms of life, and does us services that are described as eco-systemic – essential to our food and health, in their contribution to human activities (agriculture, water quality and availability, etc.) and to our imagination.

1 in 4 mammals, 1 in 8 birds, 1 in 3 amphibians, 1 in 5 reptiles, and more than 1/3 of conifer species are endangered globally.

The eider duck, whose name we bear, is among these endangered species. So it makes perfect sense that we are committing, alongside the French Biodiversity Investment Fund (FDB) and its Save Your Logo program, to support the volunteers in nonprofit bodies who are helping protect the species.

We are providing financial assistance and apparel to cope with the long cold hours of waiting and observing eiders – which live near the Arctic Circle!

TECHNOLOGIES

Ensuring our garments have all the comfort, warmth and protection it takes to satisfy you, also means developing new technologies and teaming with the best partners.

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FIX A SHAPE™ BY YKK: ERGONOMIC INNOVATION®. INVENTED BY YKK. ORIGINAL IDEA BY EIDER

For many years, our team of patternmaking experts have been trying to crack an impossible equation: how do you design an extremely protective jacket that creates a comfortable cocoon around the chin and face but without impeding head movement? How do you eliminate the rigidity constraints imposed by the front zip? We put our problem to the experts at YKK. Three years later, we are proud to present the revolutionary FIX A SHAPE™ zip. Thanks to its unique teeth, it describes a convex then concave curve that follows the shape of the chin while opening and closing in a perfectly fluid motion.

Gore-Tex® C-KNIT™

Gore® C-KNIT™ technology delivers the most comfortable three-layer Gore-Tex® fabric on the market: say goodbye to stiff, clunky protective jackets. This concept, featuring a thinner membrane and a thin dense knit backing, affords extreme flexibility to give performance matching that of conventional three-layer garments. Thanks to this highly versatile technology, all hikers, skiers and snowboarders will be chuffed to wear apparel that’s both technical and comfortable.

PRIMALOFT® DOWN BLEND

The world’s first hybrid insulation delivers constant protection and thermal insulation, so that you can tackle the most varied climates with great freedom.

This new technology combines the qualities of down – treated using eco-friendly methods – with the properties and water repellency of ultra-fine PrimaLoft® fibers. Drying time is very short, and the product is Bluesign® certified.

This insulation therefore delivers remarkable water-repellent properties and retains 90% of body warmth in wet conditions. PRIMALOFT® Insulation Down Blend, which possesses the recognized properties specific to PRIMALOFT® products, lets athletes face an array of weather with a freedom not afforded by other insulations.

POLARTEC® ALPHA®

Polartec® Alpha® fabric is a unique combination of warmth and breathability, with an ultra-light “puffa” style. Because Polartec® Alpha® fabric is stronger and more stable than other synthetic insulated fabrics, it can be combined with other lower-density fabrics to yield an air-permeable product.

This technology is designed to deliver warmth without weight; offer outstanding breathability; keep the body dry; and stow easily thanks to its high-pile construction and low-density knit.

This fabric offers unique performance that is eagerly sought by outdoor-activity enthusiasts in search of versatility. A Polartec® Alpha® garment can be worn just as happily during exertion and downtime.

FIT

Our founder was a talented tailor: modelmaking and wearability are part of our DNA. A garment’s fit provides comfort and fluid mobility, but aesthetic appeal as well.

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Slim Fit

A very close fit. Systematically teamed with stretch fabrics for optimized freedom of movement.

Alpine Fit

A close fit with no surplus fabric. Teamed with stretch fabrics for optimized freedom of movement.

Athletic Fit

A very close fit. Systematically teamed with stretch fabrics for optimized freedom of movement. Dedicated to intense activities.